drewdie

Very loyal to RCCL, but after two recent cruises on Celebrity, have to say that we also love what Celebrity has to offer. While the suites on the newer RCCL ships are amazing ( two story etc..) and the Suite/Diamond + lounge is great, Luminae (suite guest restaurant on Celebrity) is a total game changer. The food and service surpass any speciality dining on RCCL. It is also nice to experience new entertainment and venues. We would be happy to cruise with either line.

I was told that you could just show up- spoke with the concierge and with the person in charge of the "beach hut". They also accept the Resort For a Day passes that are $45 vs their price of $75.

Elbow Bay Resort does offer chairs and umbrellas for the day and you can purchase at the resort. It is $75 per person and does not include use of the pool. I spoke directly with the resort to confirm these details. You can also buy from resortforaday.

We will be in a CS on the Summit next week. What time does Luminae close for lunch on embarkation day? Thank you for your great review- very excited about our upcoming trip.

I am booked on the Feb.7,2016 trip. Can't wait to hear about your trip!

We experienced Luminae on the Constellation in April and were very impressed with everything- the food, the service and the quiet dining room. The other big perk for suite guests is Michaels Club. With all the incentive packages offered now, it is quite possible to get a drink package. If not, the availability of the bar in Michaels Club is quite nice. We also loved the appetizers offered in Michaels Club- different every night and delicious. We are not demanding people, but it was nice to have the concierge available if we needed any reservations plus they escorted us off the ship- almost felt bad walking past the very long line of passengers waiting to disembark and clear customs.

We were in a CS on the Constellation in April. Bottled water was not included in CS- there was a bottle on the counter that could be paid for if desired. We also used Michaels Club for most drinks, but also had a drink package for large bottles of water to take ashore and soft drinks. Items in the room fridge in a CS are for purchase- not included in price of suite.

Thank you!

We will be on the Summit soon and will have three days at port in Bermuda. Is Luminae open for all meals during port days? We experienced Luminae on the Constellation in April and it is one of the reasons that we once again booked a suite with Celebrity.

We were in a CS on the Constellation in April. We really liked the room- especially the closet/dressing area. But beware- they have a shower/tub combo that is very high off the ground- almost dangerously so. We were fine with it, but if you are not "spry" or over 5'6 feet tall, you will have problems getting in and out of the shower/tub.

My family and I just returned from our first cruise with Celebrity on the Summit to Bermuda. Our trip was greatly enhanced by the information provided on this forum, so I want to return the favor by sharing some highlights from our trip and also offer to try to answer any questions.

 

My husband and I (we are in our early 30s) were travelling with 16 family members ranging in age from 15 to 57. We arrived at the port at 11:00 and were on the ship in the Ocean View Cafe by 11:45. Embarkation was a breeze - since we all drove, we had to park and then take a 2 minute shuttle ride from the parking area to the terminal. Parking for the 7 day cruise was $133 and you pay at that time rather than when you leave the parking lot upon return from the cruise.

 

Overall, Celebrity greatly exceeded our expectations. The Summit is truly beautiful and while I do see the need for some cosmetic pick-me-ups, I really loved this ship. We normally like the smaller ships as opposed to the gargantuan that are being built these days, so this ship was a perfect fit for us.

 

The service was excellent and every crew member we made contact with was friendly. The food in the Ocean View Cafe was the best buffet food we've ever had on a cruise. The sushi was awesome and my family members raved about the sliced turkey. I also highly recommend trying out the stir fry, which is available after lunch when the cafe re-opens at 5:30 for the dinner crowd.

 

The food in the MDR was good, not great for the most part. However, I always enjoyed my meal and I do think it's important to remember that they are cooking for a couple thousand people and trying to satisfy a lot of different palettes.

 

We were in room 2133 which is right above the gangway and also right around the corner from the elevators. I was surprised that we didn't have any issues with noise below us from the gangway or even anything major from outside when we were docked. Also, no major noise issues from the elevator traffic, just a few quick instances of loud people here and there. Room itself was very nice. Bathroom could use some updating, but nothing to complain about.

 

We loved the Revelations lounge on deck 11 and spent a lot of time there (nice and quiet to read during the day and fun activities/great music at night).

 

We spent our first day in Bermuda at Coco Reef Resort and absolutely loved it. The beach was pretty quiet and we were so happy to not have to worry about locating a vendor for chairs/umbrellas (I walked the whole beach at one point and didn't see anyone renting chairs and/or umbrellas). Lunch was delicious and we made use of the pool as well. The scenery was just breathtaking. It was recommended to me on this forum to take the ferry to Hamilton and then get a cab to the resort. We followed this advice and it worked out so well. When we were done at Coco Reef, we went into Hamilton for Harbor Night by cab and then took a late ferry back to the ship.

 

On the second day, we chartered a 5 hour catamaran tour out of St. George so we took the 9:30 ferry from the Dockyard to St. George. We had a blast. We sailed for awhile and then dropped anchor near Fort St. Catherine for swimming and lunch. We took the 3:30 ferry back to the Dockyard.

 

Last day was Horseshoe Bay Beach and we did the Route 7 bus for that. It was crowded but not terrible. We left around 2:30 and had no trouble getting a bus as they were running special buses to accommodate the flow of people.

 

For the three days total, we ended up spending about $27 per person for transportation. We did tokens for the ferries/buses and then the cab for the quick trip from Coco Reef to Hamilton. We were going to do the 3 day pass for $44 initially, but were able to save about half that amount doing the tokens/cab.

 

One general comment about the Summit is that the temperature of the ship is a little warmer than it should be, especially for a summer itinerary. It could be at about 10 degrees cooler to truly be comfortable. Maybe this issue will be worked on when it is in dry dock in February.

 

That's really all I can think of for now. Please feel free to ask any questions and I'll do my best to answer. Thank you to those who have posted their reviews and tips previously - you really helped to make our trip a smooth, successful, and fun one!

We are hoping to also charter a catamaran or small boat while in Bermuda. Could you share the name of the company that you used, and also possibly the cost? Thank you!

We have been on every class of RCCL ship and have also been on the Pearl and the Epic. We loved the Pearl and were on it for it's first month. We were on the inaugural Epic cruise in the Caribbean and really did not like the layout of the rooms- really weird bathroom design and small, curved cabins. That being said, it is always great to be on a newer ship. We choose cruises by looking at the itinerary and price. We are booked on the Escape in December and are looking forward to another new ship. Can't go wrong either way!

We love Celebrity, so when we sat down to plan a "why not" cruise for our 25th cruise, of all the cruise lines we have taken, we first thought of Celebrity.

 

We love the itinerary they have for the week after Thanksgiving, but then saw that the ship is the Constellation built in 2002. Humm... should we? Is this ship still in good condition? :rolleyes:

We were on the Constellation in April and were very pleasantly surprised at how nice the ship was- this was actually our first time on Celebrity so we were a little worried about her age. We have traveled on many other lines, big and small, and loved our experience on the Constellation. The best part was the suite perks especially dining in Lumanea. The ship was clean and the crew was wonderful. New ships are great, but the Constellation has been well taken care of!

I am now booked on The Explorer for February 5th. Very excited about my first journey to Antartica. Any advice or information from previous travelers is welcome. First time to book with Lindblad/National Geographic.

We were on the Constellation last week, and had the great fortune of being able to dine in Lumanae as suite guests. FYI- it is a wonderful option with very good service and food. I too was worried about the pre-paid gratuities as we also ate in Tuscan and Ocean Liners and I wanted to make sure that the staff in Lumanae was compensated appropriately. I asked the front desk staff and the head maitre' de and could not get a solid answer from either . I was just told that they would "probably" receive the pre-paid tips and that anything extra was up to us. We ended up handing out more tips on the last night because of excellent service, but ended up spending way more on tips. It is confusing, and Celebrity needs to make it clear that the Lumanea staff will get the largest portion of the dining tips.

We are in a CS on the Constellation in a few weeks. Did you take any pictures of the room? Was the suite only restaurant open yet?

Thank you for all the information!

We are Diamond Plus on RCCL. Thank you for all the information!

Ooops! Thought Michael'ls was the concierge lounge. Is there a concierge lounge?

We have booked two adjoining Celebrity Suites on the Constellation for March. This will be our first time on Celebrity- we are D+ on RCCL. Looking forward to trying Celebrity, but am still unclear as to what extra benefits we will receive as suite guests. I am having trouble finding info on Michael's Club. Also wondering if we can dine in Blu- do we receive the same benefits as Aqua Suites?

We were on the Windsurf last spring. We had a standard cabin and while it was very well appointed-good storage and lighting- it did get a bit claustrophobic. The porthole was dirty and did not provide much natural light. The only comfortable place to sit in the room and read or watch TV was on the bed. I know that people will say that they don't spend enough time in their cabin for it to matter, but it did matter to us. On the plus side, the bathroom had one of the best configurations that we have ever had in a standard cabin on a cruise. I liked Windstar but would only go again in a suite level room.

Thank you so much for the suggestions- will check them out!

We are looking for a nice hotel to stay in pre-cruise. We are staying two nights before the cruise to celebrate our anniversary and want to stay somewhere in the inner harbor/harbor area. We will not be parking a car for for the week. Thank you!

We will be on the GOS in August. Is the ship casino open at night during our 2 night docking in Bermuda? Thank you!

We were on the Allure in April and were booked on the 9:20 flight on SWA. We easily made it to FLL in plenty of time for our flight and that was even with a delay with disembarking- we did not get off until about 7:30 due to computer malfunctions. My biggest recommendation is that you enroll in the Global entry or TSA Pre-Check program asap. We were able to bypass the VERY long security line at FLL which is why we were not running to our flight. Getting off the ship was a breeze and we carried all our luggage with us. You can do it!!